Live streaming on Saturday, November 7th & Sunday, November 8th dance artist L. Martina Young, who began her long and illustrious career in Los Angeles, will join the Reno Philharmonic Orchestra for Saint-Saens’ The Swan, featuring Principal Cellist, Peter Lenz, on its upcoming 2020 fall concert, DARE WE DANCE? The performance will also feature Marina Roznitovsky Oster on Harp, and Peter Lenz on Cello. The music program will include Claude Debussy’s Sacred and Profane Dances; Osvaldo Goijov’s Last Round; and Jennifer Higdon’s Dance Card.
Inside the Music (concert preview with Chris Morrison & Laura Jackson) will be streamed at 7:00PM PT on Saturday and 3:30PM PT on Sunday before the concert begins. Access it through your Dare We Dance? ticketing link, or watch in advance on the Reno Philharmonic website here.
L. Martina Young – Photo courtesy of the artist
Young has long had a fascination with swans and her life’s work, ‘The Swan Project’ began in 2012. She has investigated the swan trope found in alchemy, myth, philosophy, poetry, literature, film, and dance, developing and teaching a sustainable movement practice she calls, ‘The Swan Practice.’ Through this somatic work, she has integrated her theory on the body as the site for empathy, spiritual well-being, and a human ethics.
When I first relocated to Los Angeles from New York City in 1978, L. Martina Young was the first performer who caught my eye. Her dancing was not only technically strong, but as a performer, there were few in Los Angeles at that time who could match her. She was indeed beauty in motion.
Young is originally from Los Angeles, receiving her training with Carmelita Maracci, Gene Marinaccio, Gus Solomons, Jr. Crystine Lawson, and Daniel Nagrin. She began her professional career touring with the late choreographer Donald McKayle’s Inner City Repertory Dance Company which he ran from 1970 – 1974. Young performed in such renown works as McKayle’s Rainbow Round My Shoulder and Songs of the Disinherited, Lester Horton’s Orozco, Talley Beatty’s Caravanserai, and Gloria Newman’s Orbits.
Young also worked with the Los Angeles based American Repertory Dance Company under Bonnie Oda Homsey and Janet Eilber working with Sophie Maslow’s signature work, Dust Bowl Ballads. She has danced with Donald Byrd/The Group and was in residence with Batsheva Dance Company as Assistant to McKayle for his ballet, Album Leaves, to the music of Jelly Roll Morton.
L. Martina Young – Photo courtesy of the artist
After launching out on a career as a solo artist, Martina’s work, Las Manos (The Hands), earned her the first of two Los Angeles Vanguard Awards for Outstanding Solo Choreography. Other accolades include a California Community Foundation Brody Artist Fellowship, CAC Artist Fellowship, and an invitation to join the roster of Affiliate Artists, Inc. based in New York. Young has performed in Stevie Wonder’s music video, Ribbon in the Sky, and choreographed the music videos of The Whispers, Shalimar, and American singer-songwriter, Babyface (Kenneth Brian Edmonds). She collaborated with filmmaker Julie Dash of UCLA’s LA Rebellion, appearing as choreographer-dancer in her award-winning experimental dance film, Four Women, to Nina Simone’s title song.
Young is also a writer. She earned her Ph.D. in Comparative Mythology, and was published by Dance USA, LA’s itch journal, and Coreopsis: Journal of Myth and Theater. Her analysis of the late author Toni Morrison’s ‘poetics of the body’ was published in the anthology, Toni Morrison: Forty Years in the Clearing, by Bucknell University Press. Her teaching career includes serving on the faculties of CSU, Dominguez Hills, LA County High School of the Arts, the College of William and Mary, and CalArts. She was the Director of Dance at the University of Nevada, Reno from 1987-1994 and received Nevada’s highest arts honor: The Governor’s Arts Award for Excellence in the Arts.
Concert & Ticket Information for DARE WE DANCE?:
The livestream, virtual concerts will begin at 7:30 PM (Pacific Time) on Saturday and 4:00 PM (Pacific Time) on Sunday. Only one ticket per viewing device, per concert is necessary:
The confirmation email is your ticket! In that email, there will be a link that is unique to each ticket purchased. Remember, only one device at a time will be able to use that link.
Each performance must be viewed at the designated time. It will not be available to view once the concert has ended. (According to the Reno Phil website, a “video on demand” option may be coming for this, please refer to the ticketing page for any information listed on this subject.)
Estimated runtime: approx. 1 hour (with no intermission)
Credit/debit card fees apply per ticket, whether tickets are bought online or over the phone. Fees range from $1.50-$4.50 per ticket, based on the original price of the ticket.
All sales are final. No refunds or exchanges.
Buy tickets online HERE, or by calling 775.323.6393. Box office hours are 9:00AM-5:00PM PT, Monday-Friday.
* Music program subject to change without notice.
To learn more about L. Martina Young, click HERE.
Written and compiled by Jeff Slayton for LA Dance Chronicle.
Featured image: L. Martina Young performing Elegy with Reno Chamber Orchestra – Screenshot by LADC
